MLB 09 The Show – Hear Yourself Cheer In-Game

In case you didn’t catch this early story on ESPN last Friday, MLB 09 The Show was officially announced today, ready to arrive this coming Spring on the PS3, PSP, and PS2. As the market leader in the baseball category, the team did not want to rest on their laurels and churn out a lackluster effort. For this year, the team is including a number of new features and visual detail to once again bring the best and most realistic sports gaming experience available.

Last year we allowed players to import their own music from the PS3 hard drive so they could listen in game. Now, the team has gone a step further by creating the “My MLB Music” feature. This will allow players to use the in-game music editor to create snipits of music that can be saved and used as customized walk up music for their favorite players. Additionally, have you ever screamed at your TV at a bad (or good) play when engaged in a sports game? Well now your voice can be heard IN THE GAME by allowing users to record their own fan chants and yells and integrate them seamlessly into the ambient crowd noise. It’ll sound like you’re really there.

Of course the team is all over the details and as the leading baseball game simulator out there, how could they not? Transitional lighting is now included so players will see the lighting and shadows change gradually from a late afternoon game into night. There are also many more details within each stadium including unique jumbotron animations, realistic fan reactions, and wear and tear on the field. Also for the New York fans out there – you’re probably curious to know how your new stadiums will look like for the Yankees and the Mets? Well wonder no further as MLB 09 The Show will have them in the game, in full detailed glory.

But back to the features. Our exclusive “Road to the Show” mode has been improved with an all-new practice mode, Franchise mode has been expanded to include 40 man rosters, and the new online season leagues are available, allowing friends to get together in a league and pool MLB players together for an in-game fantasy draft.

We’ll be talking much more about this game and showing the goods as we get closer to launch next Spring. In the meantime, enjoy some of these great screen grabs to get an early peek at what the team currently has going.

Wow, simply wow! I love baseball, I tried out the 08 demo and was thinking of buying it but decided not to because I figured that they would make a 09 version that would be better. And now I am going to buy it. I am glad I waited. This looks awesome!

Great job SCEA San Diego! My brother and I have been doing 83 game rivalries ever since the mode was implemented in 06. The gameplay engine is just spot on, and I am very happy to see that the major work has went into more authentication.

I just have a couple of things I want to mention, hope I can get a comment.

1) Will we see weather transitions as well as the day/night shifts. It would be awsome to play a game at Safco and have the roof actually closing due to rain.

note: It would be cool to see the players/field get wet slowly, mabye the uncharted wet effect could be used.

2) Will rivalry mode go online? My brother is going to school next year so we will need the mode to go online. Hope that is possible.

3) Will we finally be able to make easy catches right up against the waal down the foul lines? I hate when a ball falls not even fully into the first row and your first baseman has been standing there for 3 seconds yet he still can’t reach over and grab the ball.

Those three things would make this game nearly perfect in my book. Besides that I think you guys got the right idea. Animation, animation, animation that is what makes it seem real more than anything.

You guys do such great work, I loved MLB 08 and it was my personal GOTY. I’m liking what i hear so far.

But I hope you guys are working on a few things…

First off the strike zone needs work. Everything is good but there are often strikes called very high that would be called a ball 100 times out of a 100, I think many people would agree including you guys.

HR’s that are hit off the foul poll need some work. For one thing we like to look at the HR. When we hot one off the foul poll the camera is not even on the ball, it’s instantly on the bench but who wants to look at that?

We want a view of the ball hitting the poll. Another problem is once this happens we always know it’s a HR, there is no exciting drama that is it going to be gone at all like real life, we know that it’s a HR right away.

You guys need to program it so sometimes watching it will hit the poll for a HR and sometimes it wont and it will go foul, there also no HR’s that just miss the foul poll but are HR’s….

Another thing we need is more emotion from the announcers. We need more emotion when you hit that grand slam, that game winning rbi single in the 9th or extra’s or a HR or whatever it is that gets the game over. More emotion winning the World series, more when you win the series in extra’s with a hit.

Another thing. How about more stat overlays? Why not stats of what a players average is when guys are in scoring position, what about an average against a pitcher or a pitchers stats against a certain hitter, there is many stuff that can be added. Why not a plays of the game, and not just a play of the game?

Why is there no HR derby in the Allstar game?

Sorry for all the posts, but there’s a limit on how much I can put in one.

This actually looks innovative for a sports game… I know that Madden has been in a rut for years on not improving its gameplay and everything, yet people still decide to give their money to EA for updated rosters. It’s about time I saw a sports game that actually adds something from the past years and separates it from the pack.

when playing someone online will i be able to pitch from the pitchers camara angle .if not please make that an option thats my only issue with 08 besides that this is the best most realistc baseball game in history and also the best graphics of any game i have ever seen on any console u guys deserve a award for this…great job

Will there be any integration between PSP and PS3? I’d love to start a season on the PS3 and do a few games on my PSP when I am not at home. It would be great if they could sync up and share the season. Sell them as a package deal for a discount. Also, PLEASE include some instructions on how to control base runners this year, it almost wasn’t even mentioned in the booklet last year and I still am not sure how it really works.

I’d love to see Sony work more Ads into the game, and it would + their rev.

I think in inning transitions it would be totally natural to see the camera panning the field, and a Chevy truck pull up and stop on screne and then pull away with a banner saying American Revolution – just like in a real broadcast.

And as a batter is swinging their bat and the stats pop up have a subway logo above the stats. The announcers could even say let’s take a look at our Subway Stats Tracker and make a coment about the players.

Things like that would make it feel very real, get very good brand exposure, and increase Sony revenues.